Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Start sweetpacks (start.sweetpacks.com) is one of a few apps created SweetPacks Technologies Ltd. Some of them became quite popular, for instance SweetIM. The main goal if this company is to create apps that will hopefully enhance your web surfing experience. I really do wish them luck but at the same time I think that they need to improve certain aspects of their software. What I don't like is that people find it rather difficult to complete remove Start sweetpacks from their computers. What is more, some of the users that got "infected" (it's not technically a virus, maybe a browser hijacker at worst) wasn't even planning to install it in the first place. SweetPacks are very often bundled with freeware and advertised through really questionable sites, for example illegal download sites, etc. On the other hand, it's not entirely their fault. Advertising companies should watch where and how they serve ads more closely; otherwise it's a waste of money. Anyway, this post is not about advertising, so I won't go into details about those issues this time. This page contains step by step instructions on how to remove Start Sweetpacks from Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer.

When I installed SweetPacks on my computer, I got the following notification from Google Chrome.
Not only this application changed my default search engine to start.sweetpacks.com instead of Google but also installed a web browser extension which apparently can "Access all data on your computer and the websites you visit".

By the way Start sweetpacks shows up each time you open a new tab. It doesn't just occupy your home page. In short, I was experiencing issues that were not present before. Searching directly from omnibox in Google Chrome or from address bar in other web browser redirects users to bing.com which isn't even their own search engine. So, they basically load their own homepage with ads and then loads results from Bing. It doesn't make sense at all. On the other hand, the point of adware from the developers perspective is to attempt to recover some of the costs of developing their software and in some cases it might enable the software to be given to the user for free or at a reduced rate. Any income that is attained from advertising to the user often means that the software developer is encouraged and motivated to continue with the development and maintenance of the software product, and to continue upgrading it.

Furthermore, it installs Sweetpacks toolbar to Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer. Perhaps that wouldn't be a problem at all if users could easily remove it. Yet again, they are facing some serious problems since it can't be removed though Control Panel. Everything has to be done manually. Like it or not, you will have to mess with all the preferences and browser settings if you want to use your web browser as you did before.

1. First of all, download recommended anti-malware software and run a full system scan. It will detect and remove this infection from your computer. You may then follow the manual removal instructions below to remove the leftover traces of this browser hijacker. Hopefully you won't have to do that.

2. Uninstall Start Sweetpacks from your computer using the Add/Remove Programs control panel (Windows XP) or Uninstall a program control panel (Windows 7 and Windows 8).

Go to the Start Menu. Select Control Panel → Add/Remove Programs.
If you are using Windows Vista or Windows 7, select Control Panel → Uninstall a Program.

If you are using Windows 8, simply drag your mouse pointer to the right edge of the screen, select Search from the list and search for "control panel".

Or you can right-click on a bottom left hot corner (formerly known as the Start button) and select Control panel from there.

2. When the Add/Remove Programs or the Uninstall a Program screen is displayed, scroll through the list of currently installed programs and remove the following entries:

SweetPacks

SweetPacks Toolbar

Updater by Sweetpacks

Simply select each application and click Remove. If you are using Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8, click Uninstall up near the top of that window. When you're done, please close the Control Panel screen.

SweetIM also came up - a search for "sweet" got the PITA to show up. The only thing I can remember downloading were a few fonts - will need to look closer next time (this was worse that the yahoo toolbar).

I still have sweetpacks as my browser because i can't access internet options. Every time I try to change it i get the restrictions error message. Do you know of a way around this? Thanks for any help that you can give.

That Worked. thanks so much for your accurate step by step instructions. i have been trying to remove sweetpacks or several days. it kept showing up on the new tab in chrome until I followed all of your instructions.100% spot on.

I have been trying to remove the remnants of SweetPacks for the past 2 hours! Your instructions for going to the about:config were the ticket! Once I did this it completely fixed the Bing search tab problem I was having!!

Thank you SO much! I'd removed the program and updater from Control Panel and was able to get rid of all signs except when I added a new tab. Totally forgot about about:config. Thanks for the reminder and the tutorial. It was very easy and worked perfectly.

I too got this when I downloaded Free Cuda Video Converter (6) from CNET. It wasn't a typical install .exe, it said it was a CNet installation. The install program put refusing sweetpacks as the choice to 'decline,' which I can see that some would think that terminated the full installation. Anyway, I carefully 'declined' sweetpacks & bing, but it STILL installed both in Firefox & in a couple places on my harddrive. Finding it harder to trust CNet now, but this page bailed me out.

Hi - I have tried that but when I get to my about config it says that status is LOCKED and I can't modify the browser new tab. I am so fed up, I have re-installed firefox twice now. I am sure this thing is causing my plugins to crash etc, appreciate any help.

Thank you for helping me get this crap off my computer. I never wanted it and got it by accident. I got all of it removed already, but this helped me get rid of the last bit of it, sweetpacks still showing up whenever i opened a new tab in firefox.

When I go to add ons (from what I believe is my Mozilla tool bar)the sweetpacks doe not show, only Skype, but, yet, every time I try to access a site my anti-virus (Vipre) blocks the site because sweetpacks comes up prior to getting to the site I am searching for. Why isn't the sweetpacks showing up on my add ons, but still controlling my Mozilla?

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Hi there, and welcome to my humble web presence. I'm Michael Kaur. Malware squasher, geek, and blogger based in Los Angeles, CA. If you'd like to contact me, the easiest way is through email given below or Google+. Simply add me to your Google Plus circles.

DisclaimerThis blog provides reliable information about the latest computer security threats including spyware, adware, browser hijackers, Trojans and other malicious software. We do NOT host or promote any malware (malicious software). We just want to draw your attention to the latest viruses, infections and other malware-related issues. The mission of this blog is to inform people about already existing and newly discovered security threats and to provide assistance in resolving computer problems caused by malware.